End of Life Guide Training

Death has been pushed out of life and into a dark and lonely ‘morgue’. North Americans’ generally approach the topic of death with fear and denial in hand. This training is all about changing the approach to one of openness, authenticity, and humanness.

Over the years we have gotten further and further out of touch with many natural events; sunsets, walks in nature, fishing, planting and harvesting crops, raising animals for food. We have become a population of urban dwellers with all the conveniences of modern society. Though we have made significant advances technologically and digitally I believe we have lost a considerable amount of our natural human abilities.

End of Life Guide Training approaches death with compassion, love, and frankness, talking openly about death, planning for the inevitable, and supporting family and friends with tools and skills to begin a new type of conversation. The tools, information, and practices offered are designed to bringing death back to life

A general and personal understanding of death and its many facets;
A personal understanding and acceptance of your own death;
An understanding of the journey of grief and how to guide others along its path;
Communication processes and techniques that will enhance real conversations about death;
Processes and tools to help others plan for death;
Processes and tools to help others face their death;
Processes and tools to help people create a celebration of life;
A set of tools and skills to attend to the needs of the soul as it exits the human form and transitions to a non-physical reality.

The program is designed to be tailor made to suit your personal goals around being of service to those nearing death - to the role you may want to play in supporting your family, friends, and community to approach death in a different way – a way that supports death’s acceptance - its ‘right-ness’ and allows survivors to be inspired to live their own lives more fully as a result of their loss.

The program is self-paced dependent upon your own life’s schedule, availability of appropriate hospice volunteer work, and your own learning style. This training will prepare you for your role as an End of Life Guide, a coach for the dying and their family.

What is required

A willingness and commitment to change the way you approach death;
A commitment to be involved in “the journey of dying” and the death of others;
A desire to support others in dealing with death;
A willingness to be coached as an essential component of the training;

“Stephen was a true coach through this whole journey. He was the guy in "my corner", giving me perspectives and tools to use for my own benefit, and also helping me to help my family. I feel absolutely passionate about the work that he does. He is blowing the doors off of our pre-conceived notions surrounding dying and death, opening the conversation, helping us reduce our suffering and embrace life whether we have 20 years or two days left to live.

He is deeply compassionate and insightful, and I am so very grateful for his mentorship and friendship. His book, "When Death Speaks" is a must read for everyone. This conversation needs to happen now to help us all live life fully, embrace it's richness and love deeply.”

Deanne Newkirk, Calgary Alberta

Here is what you will get when you sign up:

Section One – Getting Yourself Ready: Lesson 1-4

Lesson 1:

Death, The Taboo Topic

The learner will acquire a deeper understanding of how our culture became so fearful of death.

Lesson 2:

Shifting from Denial to Embrace

The student will begin the process of understanding and accepting a radically different approach to dying and death. Changing the lenses from fear and denial to acceptance and inspiration.

Lesson 3:

Other Cultures Do It Differently

Other cultures have much different approaches to death than we do here in North America. The participant will broaden their understanding of the unique ways other cultures face death.

Lesson 4:

Unexpected Death

If death is taboo, these types of death are particularly challenging for survivors. The student will learn to appreciate the unique challenges these they bring and will explore how to handle them.

Additional Reading:

Different Ways to Talk About Death

A Soul Companion like any artist needs to have a wide and varied palette of tools and approaches to find artistic and appropriate ways to serve each unique death. By the end of this session you will have acquired a variety of beneficial ones.

Section Two – Getting Others Ready: Lesson 5-9

Lesson 5:

Changing the Lenses We View Death Through

Students will read several real life stories of dying and death and write a story from their own life about someone’s death. The learner will begin to embrace the uniqueness each death has.

Lesson 6:

Embracing Death—A Survivor’s Manual

The learner will acquire the necessary skills to support the one dying and the family and friends that form their personal community.

Lesson 7:

The Business of Death—the Money

Oftentimes financial issues are left to be cleaned up after the whole dying, death, and ceremony process - often to the detriment of the family. The learner will grasp the basics of the financial issues facing families at the time of dying and death.

Lesson 8:

Legacy—What am I Leaving Behind?

The student will learn how to assist their ‘companion’ in making sense of their lives by looking at what they are leaving behind.

Lesson 9:

Creating your own Celebration of Life

The student will learn how to assist individuals and families create and plan a Celebration of Life that works for them and their loved one.

Section Three – Creating Wonderful Endings: 10-12

Lesson 10:

Stepping out in Style- A Good Death

In this section the student will learn about the actual process of dying and death and how to support the soul of the one dying. The use of sound, color, healing touch modalities, essential oils, and music will be taught. Creating and supporting death vigils will be covered in depth too.

Lesson 11:

And in the End

In this final session the learner will articulate their own unique approach to the art of End of Life Guiding by preparing a 2,000 – 3, 000 word essay and a 10 minute verbal presentation.

Lesson 12:

Building your own Reference Library

“Just had a chance to read through this - this training program looks awesome! I’m not aware of anyone offering anything similar. I think it’s neat how you start with basic death education/awareness (personal, cultural), and then get more applied - real skills for dealing with death and dying practically, emotionally, spiritually. Very cool!

I will definitely send people your way, as I encounter those who might benefit from this comprehensive training! You do a great job of describing the training in a way that welcomes interest from death-care professionals and people facing their own or a loved-one’s mortality, both! Not easy to do, and a sign that you’re on to something more than just “continuing ed” in "palliative care.”